This invention relates to rotary internal combustion engines and more specifically to a diesel rotary engine having specific rotor and sealing members designed to operate at maximum efficiency.
Rotary engines have been known in the art for a considerable period of time. Representative versions of such devices are fully disclosed schematically and operationally in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,117,562; 3,237,613; and 3,777,723. The principles of the present type of rotary engine to the extent they are set forth in those references are incorporated herein by reference.
Although numerous designs of rotary engines have been known for some time, they have not experienced widespread use presumably because of combustion chamber size limitations, inadequate sealing elements, and imperfect fuel injection assemblies. It has also been extremely difficult to maintain temperatures and compression ratios needed at various locations throughout such rotary devices to achieve maximum operating efficiencies, particularly in diesel environments.
The present invention is designed to overcome these difficulties by including within its structure adequate combustion chamber spacing, a positive sealing mechanism for each chamber, adequate compression ratios, and a reliable fuel injection assembly. The present invention, while applicable to gasoline engines, is more particularly appropriate for diesel engine construction because of the ability to withstand extremely high pressures within the internal engine structure that is needed when diesel fuel is injected to mix with highly compressed air for combustion.
It is therefore an objective of this invention to provide a basic rotary engine with a pair of rotating elements which mesh in a straight-radial-line to achieve positive-piston displacement within naturally formed compression and combustion chambers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rotary engine particularly suitable for diesel application because of its ability to withstand the high internal pressures experienced when fuel is injected to mix with compressed air for combustion.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a rotary engine of the type described which has a radially slidable sealing assembly in each cylinder forming groove of the rotary sealing member.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a rotary engine of the type described having a fuel injection assembly which includes a manifold supplying individual fuel injection chambers each of which are selectively actuated by appropriate means.
Yet still another further object of the present invention is to provide a compression chamber that will create a fierce turbulence within the combustion chamber required for proper mixing of fuel and air and enable efficient burning of gases.
Yet another further object of the present invention is to provide a rotary engine of the type described which incorporates optimum solutions to the problems discussed above in order to achieve a practicable, workable, and highly efficient engine that is competitive to well-established reciprocating piston engines both with respect to economy of operation and environmental pollution impact.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent after consideration of the following detailed specifications taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein like characters of reference designate like parts throughout the several views.